Hidden sugar: Why the WHO recommendations may be hard to meet

New sugar consumption guidelines issued by the World Health Organization this week suggest that adults should be limiting their sugar intake to six teaspoons per day, or about 25 grams.

The changes mark the first time WHO has changed its guideline in more than ten years.

If you visualize six teaspoons of sugar by itself, it actually seems like a pretty large amount. And you might be thinking to yourself that staying around that 25-gram mark will be no problem at all.

But the reality, as we’ve known for years, is that sugar is a staple ingredient in many of the processed foods we eat. And sugar has been a major culprit in the obesity epidemic that has plagued people across the globe. If you drink a single can of coke, for example, you’ve almost doubled the WHO’s suggested daily intake of sugar (a 355 mL can has 43 grams of sugar).

And even many of our favourite savoury foods are cram-packed with sugar, too.

By scrolling over each photo below, you can see how much sugar is contained is some of the more popular products found on grocery-store shelves. And it will show you just how hard staying around that 25-gram mark will actually be.